A bibliometric analysis of Nigeria’s Library and Information Sciences literature: A study of Journal of Applied Information Science and Technology

Abstract

The study made a bibliometric analysis of the Journal of Applied Information Science and Technology (JAIST) to portray the productivity of Library and Information Science literature from Nigeria. The investigation was centered on the productivity, geographical productivity, authorship pattern and subject coverage of JAIST. 11 issues of JAIST published from 2007 – 2017 are subjects of the study. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. Data was presented on tables and scattered plots. Findings of the study revealed that the productivity of LIS literature in Nigeria is fast flourishing, 182 articles were published in JAIST in 11 years. The authorship pattern of LIS literature is highly collaborative. The geographical spread of JAIST indicates heavy dominance in 3 0ut of 6 geographical regions of Nigeria with very little international presence. The subject coverage of the journal qualifies the interdisciplinary description of Library and Information Science, and depicts a radical departure from a professional era with less or no technological deployment to an era of massive deployment of information and communication technologies. The study implies that LIS literature is growing in Nigeria but with little international presence. Thus, there is the need for LIS scholars in Nigeria to expand their reach to their counterparts in other parts of the world and publish together with them so as to contribute more to the world chart of LIS literature.